Chapter 73: Chapter 73

“Rick Ray, did I ask you an uncomfortable question?”

“Oh, I was a bit surprised.”

A moment later, Rick’s eyes softened into a familiar, fox-like smile.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked such a peculiar question: If A and B are friends, and B and C are friends, are A and C also friends?”

“Rick!”

The servant, who had been silent until then, finally interjected. Rick lowered his head.

“I must have made a foolish joke. My apologies. In any case, I’m not on intimate terms with Lady Redfield.”

“…I see.”

“The last time I saw her was when she was with Maria at the opera, in the same space.”

“Does she like opera?”

“It’s too high-class for my tastes. I only went to protect Maria.”

“I see.”

“…”

Rick and the servant both noticed the change in Tristan’s voice, which had turned stiff.

Tristan wanted to laugh at Rick, who had become so pitiful in an instant. But soon, his thoughts were interrupted by the training grounds appearing at the end of the corridor and by the presence of Baron Meyer.

“This is the Meyer estate’s training grounds. The first place I’ll show you is…”

Work had to be done. Tristan nodded, asked questions, and tried to remember everything he could. Yet, even while doing so, the most bothersome image in his mind was the one that kept resurfacing.

It was the look Rick had given the two women earlier in the Meyer estate’s tea room.

When he looked at Maria, his face had softened into a comfortable expression, one that could have been described as the face of someone gazing lovingly at a kind sister or admiring an angel.

But whenever Rick looked at Doris, his expression changed dramatically. He would smile effortlessly, but then, in an instant, he would reveal the raw edge of his emotions, furrow his brows in exaggerated annoyance, and sometimes lick his lips while delivering a casual joke, as though his mouth had gone dry.

At first, Tristan had only thought, This is annoying.

Is Doris uncomfortable? How rude.

But for some reason, that unease began to seep into him—

“Look here! This is the mirrored wall that my grandfather installed. It allows soldiers to compare their movements with other soldiers…”

The moment he looked into the mirror and saw his own face, Tristan realized that what he had been feeling wasn’t just unease—it was déjà vu.

I know that expression.

The same expression that Rick had when he looked at Doris—unable to calm himself, occasionally becoming dazed, at other times annoyed with himself for feeling happy, furrowing his brows intentionally.

No way… Rick Ray, could you be…?

A small feeling of unease began to grow inside him, starting as something as small as a fingernail and slowly expanding.

***

The ladies participating in the performance welcomed my final script, laughing together, but also expressing some concern.

“Are you sure this will be okay?”

“It might not be. The script’s full of sarcasm.”

“Lady Doris…”

“The Crown Princess will help, but if anyone’s worried, feel free to stick with the original script. But if the modified one causes trouble, just say ‘It’s Doris Redfield’s fault.’”

“Pardon?”

“I’m the one who got permission to change the script, and I’m the one who actually made the changes, right? If something goes wrong, just blame me. I’ll probably suffer the least consequences anyway.”

“What are you—”

“Oh! Maybe you’re worried about directly speaking up and causing a backlash. Well, you could always send an anonymous complaint. Just write, ‘Doris Redfield is the responsible party.’”

I was familiar with anonymous complaints.

While working at the library, I’d seen all sorts of bizarre complaints! I could handle this!

Of course, the ladies didn’t look amused at all.

One of them asked, “Why are you going this far? Lady Redfield, you’re still just one of the young ladies who were called in…”

“There’s no grand reason. If I had to say, it’s because I thought ‘I can do this.’”

Besides, once Tristan receives his territory and becomes independent, I’ll be leaving the capital anyway. Until then, I can at least play the role of the scapegoat.

“Now, no matter what choice you make, I’d love to hear your beautiful voices singing the new lyrics. Shall we practice together?”

The ladies nodded.

We had already practiced the song diligently. The lyrics, nuances, and a few lines had changed, but the practice went smoothly, almost like a rehearsal, despite being our first time with the new script.

After we finished singing our part, everyone exchanged satisfied looks, clearly pleased with the results.@@novelbin@@

The issue was that while we were satisfied, what others would see was entirely different.

As we basked in the aftermath of the music, someone knocked on the practice room door. Before anyone could answer, the door was swung open, and it was obvious who the visitor was.

Pearl Snow. The real singer who would close the charity concert.

Still, the fact that she knocked showed she had at least received some etiquette training.

“Hello, everyone. The performance is almost here. Is your practice going well?”

Her confident posture almost seemed to say, Pfft, sure it is.

Anyway, since she was a guest, I went ahead and greeted her.

“Hello, Miss Snow. It’s been a while. Oh, did you come to join us for the final practice?”

I asked as kindly as I could, trying to channel Maria’s sweet demeanor. Pearl’s facial muscles twitched in irritation, but she managed to hold back her rudeness.

“Of course not. I came to ask if there’s a song you’re struggling with that might be hard to complete in time. If there’s a sign of failure, I’d rather take it off your hands. It’s better for me to suffer a little than to have a hole in the performance.”

“…”

She really came here to throw a snide comment.

Of course, I didn’t show my annoyance, just shook my head.

“We’re fine. As you know, this isn’t a paid performance, it’s a charity event. A small mistake can just be a funny moment between people who know each other.”

“…”

“Although I don’t know how someone as talented as Miss Snow ended up in a charity performance, if you’re nervous, feel free to let us know. We’ll perform with you, despite our lack of skill.”

I added with a hint of sarcasm, wondering why someone so capable was in a charity event when they hadn’t even been specially invited.

It took Pearl a moment to catch onto the sarcasm.

“Me? Nervous? I’m fine, really!”

Her impressive voice filled the room for a moment. Ah, how loud.

“Anyway, so you’ll be handling all three songs?”

“Of course.”

“It’s an amateur charity performance, but I hope you’ll do your best. It would be really sad to be compared to me.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it!”

She really came to stir up trouble. I opened the music room door, naturally escorting her out. It wasn’t for a formal goodbye.

“Miss Snow. Was it really your choice to participate in this performance?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean literally.”

“…It was an opportunity granted by His Highness. I had no choice but to take it.”

Right. And she couldn’t refuse. The second prince was both her lover and her benefactor.

I smiled slyly at Pearl.

“And you’ll get one more chance to choose.”

“One more choice?”

“Think about it slowly. I’ll see you again on the day of the performance.”

Pearl seemed confused at my words, about to ask, but she glanced at her watch and turned to leave. She was probably heading to meet the second prince.

I returned to the music room.

In just a few minutes, was it a brief meeting? One of the youngest ladies, who had been sitting with the group, brightened up and spoke to me.

“We’ve all made up our minds.”

“Ah. About whether to choose the changed song or not?”

“Yes. I want to see Pearl Snow’s expression when she hears this!”

Since all the other ladies had the same look on their faces, I could tell that they had all made the same decision.

In the remaining days before the performance, we practiced desperately, even after our reserved time in the music room ended. Combining dieting with intense practice was exhausting, but I managed to push through with my youthful energy.

I really hoped these ladies wouldn’t be embarrassed.

More than anything, I hoped their efforts would be rewarded with good results.

And then, the day of the charity performance arrived.

I stood in front of the mirror, contemplating two dresses.

One was the dress my sister had said was “the best of what I had.”

The other was the water-colored dress Tristan had gifted me.